A Child's Blues

A Child’s Blues
Note: The Doctor intersperses the conversation with questions ala the teacher in “Charlie Brown’s Christmas” TV movie. “Blah, blah, blah” in a horn-like sound.

Damn, Doctor! I don’t know where to begin. First of all, my brother Tim and I were inseparable.
What? Oh, he’s two years older. But he was born in Ohio while I was born in Texas.
Well, of course that matters! Ohio is a blue state while Texas is a red state! And I’m a blue person. What were my parents thinking of ! Couldn’t they have waited! My brother and I are EXACTLY two years and one week apart. If they could plan that much, why couldn’t they plan what state I was born in!
True enough. It could have been worse. The next year they moved to Montgomery, Alabama. I could have been born at a bus stop for all I know – or they cared. That was during the bus strikes, you know. But they did move back to Ohio when I was four.
Huh? Oh. My dad was in the Air Force. I’m an “Air Force brat”. But they didn’t move as much as some military families. Virginia when I was six (another red state!) which was, however, blue in the last election. Finally! And then California (blue) ever since he retired.
No, I do not have an obsession with the color blue! Although it is my favorite color. Enough! Stop making the Blue Ridge Mountains out of a mole hill.
Well, it seems to me you are. Can I get back to why Tim and I were inseparable, please?
Thank you! We inseparable because my parents – my mother particularly – wouldn’t allow us to go anywhere without each other. If Tim wanted to go somewhere he had to take me wit h him. Eventually that changed but not before the damage was done. No siree!
Huh? I think it started when I was two. I don’t remember it; it’s a story my mother tells. Clearly the incident was so painful that I’ve blocked it out my memory. Isn’t that a symptom of post-traumatic stress?
Well, I think it is. What kind of a doctor are you? Anyway, I had decided to take my doll out for air in the doll buggy. We went around the block. My mother didn’t notice me putting the doll into her outing clothes or negotiating her and the buggy out the front door and down the steps. Oh, no! But she did notice EVENTUALLY that I was gone. We went around the block, as I said. Just a short jaunt really.
No, I don’t remember how long the blocks were. But I didn’t get lost did I? And at two years old!
What? Charlotte. My doll’s name was Charlotte. What the heck does that matter?
No, she wasn’t blue! For Pete’s sake! A perfectly normal, breathing doll. Pink cheeks, lips, the works. I think her eyes were blue.
Well maybe they were green! Who cares! Ah, hem! To continue, when I got back from my walk my mother was frantic. She spanked ME because SHE was upset and worried. She was worried so I get spanked! Heck, I was only two! Anyway, after that Tim and I were inseparable.
… To be continued.